by Michael Strickland
There is a reason that so many of them need to support a Pizza guy, with no political experience, for President of the United States
"Book Bear, I don't know if you've seen this or not. But I was interested in what your perspective was on it," Idaho State Journal Columnist and bannock County, Idaho Republican Richard Larsen messaged me.
He was referring to:
Racist Bake Sale Organizers at UC Berkeley Are Totally On to Something
A club of College Republicans at the University of California-Berkeley is making a lot of enemies this week for its plan to hold a bake sale in which customers will be charged based on race and gender. Prices of baked goods are as follows: $2 for white men, $1.50 for Asian men, $1 for Latino men, $0.75 for black men, and $0.25 for Native American men; all women will get $0.25 off those prices.
The bake sale is a form of satirical protest against pending affirmative action legislation that would allow California universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin during the admissions process. Minority students get "preferential treatment" at the bake sale just as they do during the admissions process.
Here is my response:
When I served on the faculty at Utah State University in 2003 - 2004, the College Republicans had a table doing this. They said that their purpose was to spur a debate about Affirmative Action. I'm all for debate, but there are better ways to create them, such as publicizing a formal debate and inviting voices from both sides. Granted, it is acceptable and desirable on college campuses to create tension and even confusion on controversial topics, and it is a common practice for professors to dress up to appear as something they are not (punk rockers, homeless people, etc.) to provoke student thought and conversation about stereotypes.
However, I didn't walk over to their table to debate, because I sensed a certain hostility, and Utah State College Republican's strategy that afternoon did nothing to dissuade that perception.
Simply put, the Republican Party, as a whole, has a problem:
Words from Congressman Raul Labrador sum it up:
He told the Wall Street Journal that his party's immigration rhetoric is a turn-off for many Latino voters who might otherwise be inclined to vote Republican on social and fiscal issues.
"They don't feel welcome in the party, and I think that's a shame," he said. "I think we can change this."
Labrador said that if the party wants to remain relevant, it needs to welcome people of different backgrounds.
"I think it's happening nationally," he said. "We need to continue to have this conversation."